Making A Safe Room
The safe room, which is also known as a panic room, is a secure location within a home or building that is designed to provide safety for families during terrorist attacks, nature, burglaries, or other types of threats. A safe room is an ideal investment for any home owner, although the more fortified rooms with heavy security are normally found in the homes of rich people. Those that have a lot of money really have no budget - therefore they can easily spend thousands on making their safe room the best place to go in the event of an emergency.
For most of us, a safe room is a location that family members can run to and hide, or call for help in an emergency situation. You don’t really need to go all out and put steel walls and a steel door in the room, although you do need a fortified door that opens outward with fortified walls. You can have a door constructed of wood or other material, although the key should be a material that is very hard to break through. No matter what type of door you choose, the doorjamb should be steel, to prevent the door from being kicked in.
It’s almost important that your safe room doesn’t contain any windows. Windows can provide entry for burglars, which is something you obviously don’t want. You should also make sure that you keep a phone in the room, along with water, first aid kits, food, and any type of defensive weapons that you can get. It’s also a good idea to keep medical supplies in the safe room as well, just in case you need them.
No matter how hard you may try, it’s impossible to predict how long you will be locked in your safe room when an emergency happens. Therefore, you should always think about ventilation, lighting, and even hygiene. Being locked in a room for several days or possibly even weeks can affect your hygiene, which is why you should keep proper hygiene supplies in your room at all times.
The reason why most people invest in a safe room is burglars, as they present a real threat. No matter where you live, or how nice the neighborhood may be, a burglary can happen at any given time. When a burglary happens, the last thing you want to try to do is to reason with the burglars, or attempt to cooperate with them.
When you have a safe room, you can take your family there. You should always make sure that everyone in your family knows where the safe room is located and how to use it. If you have children, you should teach them about the room and how important it is. The room should never be used for recreation purposes or for children to play in. Instead, it should only be used in case of an emergency or a place for you and your family to hide.
If you have a safe room or just interested in one, you should always make sure that you keep the proper supplies on hand, just in case. When you finally do use the safe room, you should always make sure that you keep the keys to open the room inside, so no one else can get in. While you are in the room you can call the local authorities, then wait inside your safe room until they get to your house and the problem is solved. Never, under any circumstances should you come out of your safe room before the police arrive. If a burglary is taking place, you will only make the situation worse.
Major garage transformation
One of the most commonly encountered questions when
thinking about converting your garage for a new use is
the warmth of the floor. Whether you are choosing to convert
your garage into a spacious home office or to convert it into a
gym room, you have to take into consideration some
improvements for your floor.
Since the garage has a concrete and uninsulated floor you
should focus on making it warmer and more resilient. Furring
up the floor with wood and plywood can accomplish both
tasks. As a warning, you should use pressure-treated wood or protect
the wood which is in contact with the concrete by placing a
layer of felt paper between the wood and the concrete.
First of all measure and determine how much you want to raise the
floor. All garage floors have some amount of slope from the
back wall to the wall with the garage door in it to allow the
water runoff. To achieve a level floor you will have to adjust
the joists, for this if you are placing the joists perpendicular to
the slope in the floor each of them would have to be ripped
down or shimmed up and if the joists are parallel to the slope,
you can rip them on a taper or use shims to level them.
Ok, you finished remodeling the floors, now it’s time to
examine your walls. You might be surprised to find out that
your walls are not even with the foundation they sit on. They
may be set back from the foundation or maybe overhang it in
other areas. Only one step will solve these problems: selecting
a lumber size that is deep enough to extend the framing past the
concrete. By notching each end of the furring strip and
attaching one strip to the face of each wall stud will result in an
even wall that completely hides the foundation. Also it will be
deep enough for the R-21 wall insulation, this type of
insulation being the most common code requirement.
When remodeling the walls and the floor several obstructions
may appear. Obstructions like pipes, ducts, wires and other
impediments to smooth walls may exist. For small obstructions
such as wires or small pipes you could adjust the furring strips
enough to accommodate them. The solution for larger
obstructions is to box around them. If the obstruction is a water
heater or something that you will need access to, you can frame
it in and enclose it on three sides and then provide a removable
access panel for the fourth side.
A building permit may be required for a garage make over.
Of course all the methods presented here are purely theoretical
and only for guidance. All garages are different and some
adjustments to the used methods or materials may be required
in order to accommodate to your garage.
Insulating you garage
You recently bought a house that has a bedroom addition above the
garage but it is not insulated. Adding insulation should make those
rooms more comfortable and save on energy bills. There are several
options for insulating above the garage. Depending on the local
building codes, the size of the area, whether you decide to hire a
professional or do it yourself and maybe the most important
factor is your budget.
If you have a sheet rocked garage, the fastest way would be to have
blown-in insulation installed behind the sheetrock. A fair warning
here, the blown-in insulation may be expensive if your garage
is small. If your garage is not sheet rocked you have to install
lame-spread rated batt insulation and cover it with sheetrock. First check
your local building codes for the requirements of the thickness of the
sheetrock for garages including fire safety rules. The lack of smoke detectors in
a garage and the possible storage of flammable and combustible
liquids can cause a garage to be considered a hazardous space. This is
the reason why you should contact a local contractor to help you
in insulating this space.
Improved storage – your garage
One of the most important storage areas of a home is the
garage. Because the space it offers is limited it should be used
efficiently. So the garage is a prime candidate for storage
improvements. Of course you have many options for
improving the storage in your garage.
One of the options is to buy a modular storage kit. This can
have parts and components that you can mix and match
together and can solve many storage problems. Another option
would be to build your own storage solution. If you have too
many items that you keep in your garage maybe a modular
storage kit cannot provide you the needed solution. The
improvements made to your storage may help you reduce
clutter, store seasonal items in a more conveniently way and
improve organization.
Cabinets, shelves, wall-mounted racks and plastic containers
are the most popular types of garage storage and organization
solutions. Cabinets work well for protecting their contents from
moisture and dust. Shelves save space more efficiently but the
most affordable solution are the wall-mounted racks. Clear
plastics containers help you to store several items and allow
you to see the contents.
